A sad new world
by Lori Skylark
Summary: Daine and Numair together somewhere else other than Tortall
1. Whoops!

Numair muttered to himself as he tried his transportation spell. As he got to the end of the spell his mind began to wander and when he heard Daine come into the room they shared his mind was on her. Instantly there was a flash of black light (can light be black?) and Numair felt himself pulled into a space that really didn't exist.   
  
"What?" He heard Daine asked confused. He looked around in the space and saw her sitting/floating on what seemed to be air. As he walked over to her he too was floating and yet still on something solid.  
  
"Daine I'm sorry. It's a spell. I don't know what went wrong." He helped her to her feet.  
  
"The Transportation spell for the king?" She asked as she got her balance.  
  
"Yes. It is supposed to bring you to where you ask to go but I didn't ask to go anywhere."  
  
"Well were you distracted?"  
  
"Well, I-" There was another flash of black light and the man and woman fell onto something hard, rocky and flat.  
  
Looking around Numair could see a building with some sort of carriages or wagons placed on its outside without horses. There were trees without leaves only rope that connected each tree to one another. On the outside of the building was a box where a person was talking into some sort of stick. There were horse less wagons on the hard rocky black surface that looked like a road. Numair and Daine were on that surface too, but it was so large that the only horse less wagons around them were not moving.   
  
Numair looked at Daine. Her cheeks were covered in tears and she had her hands over her ears.  
  
"What's wrong?" Numair asked hugging her close to him.  
  
"The animals Numair. All the animals here are in pain. It's horrible. I feel so many dying. Entire species are dying as we speak. Where are we? What kind of torture is this?" She began to sob in his arms. 


	2. David

Suddenly one of the horse less wagons stopped. There was a human inside and he stuck his head out of a hole that appeared suddenly. Strangely enough he spoke their language. "What are you two doing on the ground?" he asked "That's no place to be!" He saw the sobbing Daine. "What's wrong? Are you two lost? Do you have to get to the fair?"  
  
"Fair?" Numair asked.  
  
"Well you two look like you are dressed for the renaissance fair."   
  
Daine stopped crying, "Rena-what?"  
  
The man got out of the car and helped Numair up and Numair helped Daine to her feet. The stranger was dressed in a tunic, shirt and breeches. He looked surprisingly similar to one of Daine's rider friends. He was average height with semi curly dirty blond hair. Maybe he was about 16 or 20?  
  
"I'm David." He said smiling. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Numair Salmalin, and this in Daine."  
  
Daine nodded distractedly at him. Her temples throbbed horrible and she could not concentrate on the conversation. The two men talked for a few minutes while Daine listened sadly to the animals. So many were in pain, so many were dying, so many were dead.   
  
It reminded Daine of the time that she had been in the menagerie in Tortall that first time, but this was on a MUCH larger scale. This was worldwide. Whatever world it was.   
  
Numair turned to her, "David has offered to give us a ride in his car." He said his face showing his confusion at the word. She only stared at him. "That wagon thing that's a car," Numair clarified.  
  
"Wow." David commented, "You guys really stay in character. I'm only going to pick up girls."   
  
They got into the, um, the car Numair and Daine in the back and David driving. Driving was turning a wheel type thing so that the-car would move in that direction.   



	3. 

As they drove down the road David said, "I hope you don't mind but I have to pick my  
sister up from the shelter."  
  
"That's okay." Numair said holding Daine close to him as she cried. As he held her he  
was deep in thought.  
  
After ten more minuets of driving David pulled into a drive way where there was a long  
building with cages that held dogs around it.   
  
For the first time Daine put her head up. "It's clean here. It's peaceful."  
  
"This is Perfect Paws, the shelter my sister works at. You know shelters, they take in  
stray and unwanted dogs and cats. Man, my sister loves this place, she wont even take  
any money for working here. She just tells the supervisers to give it to the animals. It's a  
no kill shelter too. My sis wouldn't work in one that killed the animals."  
  
"Kill?" Wailed Daine, "People kill dogs?"  
  
"Sometimes they have too." David said gentley. "There are just not enough people who  
are willing to give them homes."  
  
At that moment a short, slim girl with blonde hair came up to the car. David opened the  
window to talk to her. As he told her about finding the two the girl looked at them with  
sharp amber/blue eyes, she studied the couple. She was dressed in worn, stained overalls  
and a light blue T-shirt. Her light hair was messy from being with animals all morning.   
  
When her brother stopped she said, "Hi, I don't know if my brother told you my name yet  
but for the sake of good manners I'll tell you. I'm Eve."  
  
"My name is Numair," Said the man, "and this is my...friend, Daine."  
  
"It's nice to meet you." She got into the car and sat next to Numair. There was the musty  
smell of animals on her and Daine looked at her with sharp eyes.  
  
"So you work with animals? You help them?" Daine asked dumbly as the car started to  
move again.  
  
"Yes. I love this work. I don't want to lecture you but the world is full of sorrow for  
both humans and animals. It's the least I can do. I mean even the animals that are raised  
for food are raised in sorrow. Fur and leather, those two words make me shudder. And  
all the poisons going into the sea and all the animals killed in the fishing nets makes me  
want to cry. I don't know how humans ever got into control but the way that 'we' treat  
our fellow animals is appaling."  
  
"Eve, I really don't think she want's you to go on." David said.  
  
"That's horrible," Daine said quietly. "Are all the animals in such horrible condition?"  
  
"I wish it wasn't true. But no one thinks any more. I tell people think selfishly, if all  
these animals disappear how long till we go? No one likes to see the truth. Especially  
when it is so powerful and sorrowful. Most people just don't care. Sometimes I feel so  
alone."   
  
"Oh, I know what it's like to be alone in the company of unwilling people. I had to help  
a wolf pack once and nobody would listen and nobody but me really cared about the  
wolves, they only cared when they discovered a murder plot then they went for help, then  
they cared." Daine was not looking at Eve she was now looking at the tall figure who sat  
between them.  
  
"Daine, I did care about the long lake pack and I was going to help, but then we  
discovered the plot against Jonathan and I had to act."  
  
"I remember how alone I felt that night when I went up and spoke for Brokefang, as you  
feated on their venison. The deer brought in from the woods that the wolves lived in and  
were starving in. You thought it better to stay in silence and only when you smelled the  
plot did you scramble into action."  
  
Eve and David were confused but silent as Daine and Numair continued to argue.   
  



	4. Age

  
David pulled into a parking lot that was filled with cars of all different sizes and colors.   
There were people dressed in costumes just like Daine and Numair (who were still  
arguing).  
  
As they got out of the car and Eve went to the trunk and took out a dress wrapped in  
plastic. She smiled at Numair and Daine who were staring at it. "It's something I worked  
on for a while."   
  
"It's very nice." Daine said, "But I like breeches."   
  
"Come with me while I change. We can talk." Eve said handing Daine a brush and   
leading her to one of the public bathrooms. Once inside Eve asked, "What is up with  
you two? I thought he was your father," Daine winced. "Or your brother. I know he said  
you two were friends but I can't think of what it could be."  
  
"He's my-" Daine was at a loss of words. This culture was so different, she could see  
that with her own eyes. How excepting would they be? "Lover." She finally said with a  
smile. "We must not seem like that now though."  
  
"LOVER?" Eve choked. "He's could be your father!"  
  
"It's a fourteen year difference." Daine said. "So he couldn't really be my father."  
  
"But you're like what 16? 17? And fourteen years? He's in his thirties!"   
  
"And I love him for who he is not how old he is."  
  
"I guess you're right." Eve said doubtfully as she took the brush and began to brush her  
hair so the tangles were gone and it was like golden silk. "I don't know where you two  
are from but it must be really different. You are still a teenager. That's all. Here in this  
state, this country, an older man with a teenager is, well, wrong. But you seem to love  
him still, even after that fight in the car." Her hair finished she tied it so there was a knot  
at the back of her head.  
  
"Your hair you have it up in the most unique style."  
  
"It's a bun." Eve said. "Pony tails still keep me warm. This is cooler." She sighed,  
"Okay let me change." Eve went into a stall and after about five minuets came out  
dressed richly in a lavender dress of light cotten.   
  
"That's very nice." Daine said again, "You look like one of Thayet's ladies."  
  
"Who is Thayet?"  
  
"My Queen." Daine said. "She's married to King Jonathan. They rule the country of  
Tortall."  
  
"Okay, okay," Eve said smiling, "We'll go out to the fair."  
  
They went outside and there was Numair and David waiting for them by the car. Eve put  
her old clothes and brush in the car and they went to the fair.  
  
"We go past the booths first each year. Do you want to stay with us?"  
  
The Tortallians nodded and followed the Americans into the crowd. They went past  
booths with smells of food that were unknow to Daine and Numair. Daine was still  
distracted by the ever present sound/feeling of animals she could not call correctly. She  
had tried many times in the car when she started to ignore Numair who had been  
repeating himself again.  
  
It was strange. She felt the animals but could not comunicate. Not like at home. She  
was still the wildmage and her connection with the people was the same. But the animals  
were not the same. They weren't dumber (animals aren't dumb) it was like animals and  
humans were in no way conected.  
  
When the crow flew over her and she saw the bird it hit her. There was no copper fire!   
And that was her link to the people the fire!! She was like any human now. Then why  
could she still feel the animals?  
  
She turned to Numair when they stopped at a booth where there was nice jewlery and  
other accesories. The mage was looking at an oddly shaped ring, he showed it to David,  
"Is this a skull?"  
  
The mage raised his eyebrows and put the ring down. "I would not want to wear that."  
  
Daine looked at him and shook his sleave. "Numair can we talk? Now?"   
  
He looked down at her remembering when he had waited to talk to her later and a palace  
had been runed, she had been kidnapped and he had almost been killed. In only a split  
second he asked, "What is it magelet?"  



End file.
